'I Saw Woman Power,' Says The Photographer Behind These Powerful Pics From Shaheen Bagh Protest

It has been 12 days and a small neighbourhood in Southeast Delhi has refused to sleep.

Women in burqas, some with their children are holding the fort in the fight against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Shaheen Bagh. India has been rocked by demonstrations since December 12 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government enacted the CAA that provides non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan a pathway to Indian citizenship.

#1. The nights echo with slogans, chants and songs in a gathering of hundreds of women.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#2. In the protests against the Citizenship Bill across cities in India, women have been leading the charge in a way never seen before. From students to housewives, each and everyone is out on the streets raising their voices against CAA and NRC.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#3. We saw one such protests at Shaheen Bagh where women peacefully protested in the night in a small neighbourhood in Southeast Delhi.

#4. Many striking pictures came out from the protests, photos that were clicked by 27-year-old Sambhav Sharma, a photographer from Delhi.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#5. ¡°Violence needs to stop," Sharma told Indiatimes.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#6. When asked about NRC and CAA, he said that if we combine them, it can create a problem. "Whatever is happening right now in the name of protests should be stopped - the police brutality and violence by the protesters should also come to an end."

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#7. Talking about the Shaheen Bagh protest, he said it was the most peaceful protests that he saw in Delhi. "There were three police buses that were standing at the spot but the protest was so peaceful that they did not have to take any action against any of the protestors," he revealed.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#8. There were separate spaces allocated to men and women. But he mostly saw woman power; most of the protesters were women in burqas.

#9. Talking about the local people who volunteered to help, he said that there were people from the nearby colony who distributed snacks and water to the protesters and kept asking them if they needed any help from them.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#10. In the end, he said that peace should prevail and we should all learn from the Hong Kong protest that started on March 15, 2019.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#11. He also requested the media to portray the right picture to the people who are not an active part of the protests and are watching it on television.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

#12. Women have been blocking a kilometre-long stretch of Kalindi Kunj road, which links the area with Noida. They just had one demand: withdraw the NRC.

Facebook/Sambhav Sharma

What are your opinions about the protests happening across the country?